New website highlights labors art heritage

April 20, 20091:38 AM CDT

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For nearly 30 years, the Labor Heritage Foundation has worked to preserve and promote knowledge of the cultural heritage of the American worker through the arts, including music, poetry, written works, theater and artistic works.

Labor Heritage’s creative, user-friendly new website opens up the world of labor arts for labor activists and art lovers alike with the power to draw a new generation of artists.

At www.laborheritage.org, you’ll find many of the familiar services and some new ones. The main feature is a slide show with information about such popular events as the Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing, the Joe Hill Award and a new Shades of Youth in Labor, where young people speak out on issues such as poverty and injustice.

Labor Heritage Foundation Chairwoman Elise Bryant says the website reflects the important role that art plays in the union movement.

Art displays the heart, soul and passion for equality and justice in the union movement. Union members learned long ago that life is more than work. We not only need bread, we need roses, too. Every successful progressive movement in the United States has been led by song. But we’re not just focusing on the past; we’re also introducing the new artists who are producing art for the union, peace and justice movements.

Also on the site, you’ll find quick links to the Labor Heritage Hall of Fame and an inventory of American labor landmarks. You can check out videos of recent events and a calendar of upcoming happenings.